The invention relates generally to snowplow blades attached to a vehicle and used in plowing snow in a precise manner. More specifically, the invention relates to a compact extendable and retractable barrier attachment for a snow plow blade used in precise plowing operations and having a number of flexible barrier members.
In general, snowplows are designed for rigorous and demanding use in removing snow over varying surfaces ranging from gravel roads to concrete freeways. Among the various uses of snowplows, municipal services and private plow services stand out as two of the most common applications for snow plows. In these applications, the largest concern is the small amount of available space for placing and/or retaining the snow collected by the plow. The limited space results in a situation where snow collected by the plow is often deposited across roadways, driveways, and sidewalks. Accordingly, because of the limited space available for retaining snow removed from congested city streets and landscaped private drives, snowplow operations require precise control over the flow of snow in order to unnecessarily prevent plowed snow from blocking city streets, public and private driveways and the like. Several snow removal assemblies for better controlling the removal and placement of snow are embodied in the related art.
For example, a plow with a deflector assembly that is supported to extend over the top edge of the snow plow and which deflects snow from flying into the windshield of the vehicle and obstructing the view of the driver is disclosed in Vachon U.S. Pat. No. 5,155,929. Similarly, Winter U.S. Pat. No. 5,265,356 embodies a hydraulic system for better controlling blade direction, which allows for better ice scraping and prevents blade damage. Indeed, innumerable applications arise concerning snowplowing and the unique problems such an endeavor presents.
However, none of the prior attempts at designing a snow plow system for precisely removing snow provides a system in which the snowplow includes an attachment that is capable of substantially preventing the entire discharge of snow from the plow in order to perform very precise snow removal. Further, it would be desirable if such a system were also movable in order to allow the plow to divert the snow to a desired location in a highly efficient manner and utilizing a structure that is simple in construction and easy to maintain.
The present invention is a snow plow barrier attachment for a snow plow blade having an overall conventional construction that form retractable snow guides or barriers that can be deployed from the blade to selectively prevent the plow from diverting the snow being collected and/or removed by the snow plow in a desired manner. The barriers include a rigid base pivotally secured to the plow blade and a number of flexible members, such as straps, chains and cables, that are spaced from one another and extend across the base to form a semi-solid, flexible wall on the base. At the opposite end, the flexible members can be connected to a support member, or to a rewind mechanism disposed on the rear of the snow plow.
In order to deploy the barrier on the plow blade, the base is moved from a retracted position to an extended position using a deployment mechanism located on the plow blade. The deployment mechanism can be the rewind mechanism for the straps, a hydraulic ram operably connected to the base, or any other suitable mechanism. When the barrier is moved to the outward, extended position, a brace attached between the base and the plow blade operates to hold the barrier in the extended position when in use by limiting the pivoting movement of the barrier with respect to the snowplow blade.
When the barrier is in the deployed position, snow collected from a roadway or other surface by the snow plow blade contacts the barrier and is prevented from being discharged from the side of the plow. The resiliency of the flexible members on the barrier allows the snow contacting the flexible members to be urged back in front of the plow blade to be moved further along the roadway by the plow without being diverted by the plow to an undesired location, such as across a driveway or roadway. When the plow or barriers are not in use, i.e., when it is desired to dispense snow away from the plow blade, the pivotal attachment of the base to the plow blade allows the barriers to be pivoted from their extended position on the front of the snowplow into a retracted position so that snow can be deposited to the side of the plow.
The barrier attachments also include various accessories attached to the base, brace and flexible members that enable the barriers to withstand the shock normally associated with plowing operations without damaging any part of the attachments.